I think I’m happier with electricity, running water, abundant food (and there is enough food to feed everyone, we just have a distribution problem), and Saturdays (remember that a weekend is a modern invention). Would I be happier if I worked less? Sure. Would I be working less if I lived 1600 years ago? Unlikely.
So when I wrote this I was trying to write as a "citizen of the world" (not to sound cliche), not just as an African American. Naturally I'm happier than I would've been in 1619, but most likely then I would've still be in Africa tbh and I think that's semantics. I chose 400 years ago because that's when Adam Smith's predecessors began laying the foundation for what would become capitalism in the U.K.